RotG: Dusty's Origin
by MistyLilyValley
Summary: Cloud Whisper tells the story of her baby sister's origin, but there's one member of the family who isn't too sure about having a new addition to the family. Will Solar Flare warm up to his little sister, or will he find that it doesn't manner who is in your family as long as there is plenty of love to go around?
1. Chapter 1 - The News

Dusty's Origin: Part One

* * *

Things aren't always as you would expect them to be, and that's saying a lot on behalf of my family. When Dusty came around, I can say that one of us didn't know what to think of a new addition to our family. I can remember when my brother, Solar Flare, didn't as much as go near her at first when our baby sister was born.

Mom and Sandy had just been married not so much as two months ago before Mom suddenly got that special feeling that every mother eventually gets blessed with time in marriage. In other words, my Mother was expecting with our little sister, Dusty, but we didn't know that at first.

Oh, but even with that, it took some time for Zack to get used to this …

* * *

"Oh, Mom, this is truly something," I remembered saying, admiring the shimmering beauty of my Mother's Silent Glade which now rested up in the home of Sandy's Clouds.

My Mom used to live down on the Earth in the exact wood where we had evidently got separated when Manny had changed all of us into spirits and eventually Guardians. Yes, I am a spirit, too, but my story is not important right now.

After Sandy was supposedly destroyed by Pitch during the battle of him and his nightmares, my Mom had flown home to her quiet sanctuary to grieve. That's what my Mother's Glade was to her – a quiet sanctuary that held the ultimate pocket of her strength. It wasn't just a sanctuary, though; it was her home, the only home she knew ever since she woke up as Windsong, Spirit of the Wind and Music.

So, that night when she was in grief about Sandy's death, Pitch had taken advantage of our Mother's sadness and had attacked her, almost destroying what he thought was the very source of her power – her wings. However, in the process, he had polluted our Mother's magic fountain in the process, too, but even that didn't prove to be our Mother's strongest strength. It was her heart that brought her back to us, she had once told me and my brother, and it showed her, also thanks to Manny's guidance, that she only had to believe in herself and enact on what she believed was right.

And when, thankfully, Narain and Toothiana, which of whom you may know as the Tooth Fairy, brought my Mom back to the Pole, she ultimately saw just how much important believing in yourself proved to be. When Sandy was lost, my Mom had then lost faith in herself, feeling that she couldn't call herself what Manny intended her to be all along because she couldn't protect Sandy. And, this led her to believe that she couldn't protect anybody else. I'm not sure if that was all that was on her mind, but Pitch, seeing through my Mother's doubt, took the advantage and tried to destroy her, too.

Unfortunately, my brother and I weren't aware of this disaster at first, believe me, but we felt it as soon as we saw Pitch and his nightmares leave the Silent Wood. Now, we didn't know that our Mother lived there, but we did sense its familiarity, especially when we touched down to see what happened. The Silent Wood proved to be the very place that I had last seen my Mother before I too succumbed to the smog that we all perished in. And, not too far from where my Mother and I rested, my brother proved to be there, too, with the last remains of the very torch he held in his tired hands when he tried to protect me and our mother. But, even as we awoke, we each proved to wake up in different places and each with a different purpose then the other.

It's true that me and my brother didn't reunite until a few months after we each individually became spirits, but we didn't find our Mother until that very night when we saw two other spirits carry her away to a place in we came to know as the North Pole.

Soon after exploring the Silent Wood and finally what we found out to be my Mother's Silent Glade, we had then immediately followed their trail to see if our hunch was right. And sure enough, it was. However, I have to say that our hunch didn't begin until my brother came across our Mother by mistake when he saved her from the icy winds of the Arctic when she was on her way to the Pole, but even then we didn't know for sure if it was her. We had been looking for so long, but we weren't ready to give up yet, knowing that our Mother was out there somewhere. And, even though we knew we had found her, Manny had instructed us that it was not yet time to reveal ourselves to her.

So, Mother didn't really know it was us until the end of the very last battle against Pitch and his nightmares. This was also the time when Sandy was brought back by the new belief that was bringing all of the Guardians' strengths back. You could imagine how much that made my Mother happy, but I couldn't have been happier when I saw that ever-shining glint in my Mother's eyes glow when we were reunited.

I have to say, that was the very first moment that our new life as a family once again truly begun. And, it all started within the next year when Sandy finally proposed to our Mother on the very day she became a Spirit, May 27, 2013, 357 years to the exact day Mom first became Windsong. But, their wedding didn't commence until the middle of July in the summer of 2013.

However, after a few weeks after saying "I do," Mom then began to experience a tiny surprise.

"Mom, have you told Sandy, yet?"

Mom giggled as she held a watering can to her glittering blooms. "No, I haven't told him yet, but you could say that I'm waiting for the right moment."

"Right moment for what?" I heard my brother ask as he came hovering in on his hoverboard. Turning my buttercup blonde curls to the garden gate, I, sure enough, saw Sandy come walking into my Mother's garden with a big and admiring smile.

"Oh … uh ... " Mom then chuckled nervously. "Ah, it's nothing."

"Nothing? There's definitely something with you, Mom, if your making something out of nothing," my brother said, surfing higher into the air.

Whisper and Skylight, another one of my Mom's Lyrical Wisps, hovered nearby giggling as Sandy curiously looked up into Mom's face with a puzzled yet amused face.

"Well, what is it, Mom? Quit keeping us all in suspense," my brother exclaimed excitedly, floating above Mother's head.

Sandy took one of Mom's hands as his head tilted to watch as Mom lifted his to her middle. Smiling down into his eyes, Mom watched as Sandy simply felt for a moment then listened. With his eyes widening, he smiled widely as Mom bent down to kiss his lips.

"What is it? Mom?" My brother said, stepping off his board to stand down next to me.

Turning to him, I said, "Zack, Mom's going to have a baby."

"What?" I heard him utter, while Sandy and I calmly sat Mom down next to her fountain to sit down.

"A baby?"

"Yeah, isn't it great?" I exclaimed, rising into the air upon my feathered wings.

Zack didn't reply as he quietly sat down next to his board on the ground. Mom and Sandy tilted their heads with concern as they watched him turn away.

"Zack?" Mom asked, rising to her feet.

"Zack, what's wrong?" I asked, landing behind him.

"Mom's having a baby," he murmured sadly.

* * *

**Chapter One is done. This short will have a few follow-up chapters. I've just been thinking them out. :)**

**Please enjoy.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Excitement and Worry

Dusty's Origin: Part Two

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As you can probably tell, my brother wasn't too keen about having another baby sibling other than me, of course. But, it wasn't the idea of Mom having another baby that bothered him. Our world changed so fast when we were turned into spirits, and even then, I could imagine it was hard for him to get used to his new responsibilities as the Spirit of Fire.

To start this story, I think I'm going to have to tell you a little about us. My brother's name was Zackary, and he was also my twin. We were both only thirteen when our Mother and we were chosen as spirits, as I've said before. My brother became Solar Flare, the Spirit of Fire, and he lived down on the Earth in a dormant volcano.

My name is Lindsey, but now I'm known as Cloud Whisper, the Spirit of the Sky. Flying upon feathered angelic wings, I live in a castle up in the clouds. Like my mother, I have my own helpers called the Nature Dryads, but that's a tale for a different time. While my brother controls the heat in the air around him, I oversee the weather.

Now, turning back to our tale, I hope that allows you to know a little of whom we are, so you can see the situation at hand.

* * *

"What? Say it one more time so we're clear," I heard Narain say as I turned an eager smile from here up to my Mom, who was looking down with a small and petite smile.

"Song, congratulations," Casey said as she excitedly held up her staff while water spouted from the tip of her blue gemmed staff and splashed down on top of all of us.

Holding my right wing over my face, I laughed.

"Yes, I'm going to have a baby," Mom said as she sat down near the edge of her magic fountain, dipping her quiet fingers down into it to humbly touch the water.

Lifting my wing and letting it rise up to touch my other one, I watched as Sandy came over to stand beside her as he took one of her hands as he sat down.

"So, do you guys know what it's going to be yet?" I heard Jack say as he hopped down out of one of my Mom's many trees that grew in her Silent Glade.

Mom shook her head as Bunny came up and knocked him playfully over the shoulder. "Now, Frostbite, Sandy and Song may want to be surprised."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure that he or she will get a lot of love," Narain said with a smile as she picked her own little daughter, who was named Aurora Borealis. To my understanding, I think Bunnymund and Narain's daughter was only a few months old, but she only smiled as her silvery blue hair brushed across her face as she was cuddled in her mother's arms. "How long will you have to wait?"

"Probably until around late March or Early April of next year, possibly," Mom smiled as our heads turned to see a flutter of excited wings flash into the doorway as Tooth came flying into the Glade with North right behind her.

"What is this I hear?" North said as Bunnymund quickly caught him up to the news.

"Ah Song, I'm so happy for you," I heard Tooth say as she fluttered excitedly above us all as she hovered above the fountain.

Bunny turned to my brother as he said, "You're going to have a new little brother or sister to play with, Hot Beak. Aren't you happy about it?" Turning my brown eyes over to where my brother stood with his arms folded against the wood of a hickory tree at the edge of the garden, I watched as my brother just stayed silent as a tear washed down his eye. Turning his head away, he shuffled his board beneath his feet and quickly flew out of the Glade in the blink of an eye.

"What's up with Solar?" I heard Casey ask softly as she watched him fly out of the Glade. "Is he alright?"

"Yeah, why is Hotshot so down? I thought he might be up the wall in excitement … Ow," Jack said, tilting his icy blue eyes down to behold Casey's stern sapphire blue eyes as she shook her head.

Mom sighed as she said, "I don't know. He hasn't told me."

"Have you asked him why he's so upset?" Bunnymund asked.

"Yes, but he won't say anything. And, that's got me worried, because I've never seen him like this."

"Mom, if I may," I said as every eye turned to where I stood, "I think that Zack is a little nervous about the new baby."

Mom held out a hand to me as I sat down between her and Sandy. "What do you mean, dear?"

"I mean, if you look at it this way, we just got our family back together because we finally found you. And, I know that Zackary is happy with your marriage to Sandy," I said, smiling up to him as he sat a hand on my shoulder. "To tell you the truth, Sandy is like a new father to the both of us. And that's true when I speak it for Zack and me, but I think Zack is just having trouble adjusting to the idea of a new family member so soon."

"He's scared about replaced," Mom said sadly, turning her head to the entrance where he was no more.

"No, everything is just happening so fast," I said. "And, it's hard for him to adjust …"

"I know, I understand that now," Mom said as she stood to her feet.

"Song, I'm sure he's ok," Casey said.

"The boy just needs time to adjust, Windsong," North said, watching as Mom paced beside herself with worry.

"I just knew this would happen," my Mom sniffled. "I need to tell him that he will not be replaced, that he is loved," my Mom whimpered as she leaned up against one of her maple trees for support.

"Now, hold on, Song, you need to stop this worrying," Narain started as she handed a sleepy Aurora into Bunny's arms as she went over with Sandy to guide Mom to one of the nearby benches that sat around the fountain. "This isn't good for the baby."

"I know," Mom sighed as she looked up into her husband's eyes. "I'm just worried."

"Any mother would be, but I don't think Solar fears that he is not loved or replaced," Narain said, looking over at me with a smile. "Just look at your daughter, I think that he knows, like her, that they could never be replaced."

"Yeah, Song, I bet that he just needs some time to adjust to it. He'll come around," Jack said with a small smile.

"After all, aren't you excited about it?" Casey asked with a smile.

Mom nodded her head with a smile as she said, "I know I am."

Sandy only smiled as he pulled me and Mom into a tight hug.

"You know, it makes one almost want to have a little one around, you know?" I heard Casey say as she smiled up at Jack, but I only giggled silently as Jack cleared his throat with a quiet whistle.

* * *

**Here's Chapter Two. :)**


	3. Chapter 3 - The Chase

Dusty's Origin: Part Three

* * *

"Solar, where are you?" I remember screaming as I was searching for my brother. It had been only about 3 months since our mother's announcement, but even after that, we saw very little of my brother. He had completely disappeared without a trace, at least for a while.

After following his tracks leading away from his home, I found him in a solitary dark cave cuddled up next to a cozy fire. This place was no doubt familiar to him for some reason, but that can be stated why later.

Seeing him there asleep brought back so many memories for me back when before we became spirits. It was back way when I was having my nightmares. Just like our Mother would, Zack always would look in on me if he heard me cry. He just had a way of sensing when I was upset, and right now it was the same thing with me. I knew when he was upset, and I wanted to do everything I could to cheer him up.

* * *

"Faster Solar, Tooth said that she'd show me Tooth Palace when she got back from Jacksonville. She could be back any moment," I said, holding my brother's hand as we surfed up higher into the sky at high speed on my brother's hoverboard.

"What was it this time I wonder," my brother said with a chuckle as we dived down past a migrating group of birds.

"I heard from Mom that Tooth had muttered something about a lateral incisor or something," I said with a giggle.

Joining in, my brother chuckled as he slowed to a medium hover as he turned around to face me. "Hey, where's Mom? I thought she was coming along, I thought I heard her say."

"She is, she just went to see if Casey wanted to come along. Mom said that she'd meet us there."

"Well then, we better hurry. Hang on," he said, leaning down hard on his foot as his board just shot forward.

Now, I know I could have gotten there myself, but with my brother's hoverboard we got there much faster due to his speed. And, I didn't want to let him out of my sight if the news of our Mother expecting got to him, again.

"I'm surprised Heather has let you out of her sight lately," I said, teasing him about Heather's crush on him. "Usually when me or Natura ask her to go check out the humidity levels, she usually asks to go see you first."

My brother's speed lowered to a moderate drift as his smile softened just a little. "Well, she knew I needed some time alone these days."

"Solar, just what is it that's bothering you? I've never seen you act like this. It's almost like you don't think anyone will understand what it is you're going through."

"Linds, please, not now," my brother sighed, pouring on the speed. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Zack, we need to talk about this. I miss you, Mom misses you, we all miss you back at home."

Looking back at me for a moment with sorrowful eyes, my brother said, "I miss you all, too."

"Just what is it that's bothering you then?"

"Nothing, alright," he said with a pinch in his voice. Sliding to a stop, he said, "We're here."

Looking up, Tooth's beautiful Tooth Palace filled my sights as its towers stretched up towards the sky, but after a stray moment my eyes returned back to behold my brother's cautious eyes peering over at the door.

Over no more than a mere wingflaps away sat Mom and our friend, Casey Aqua, chatting away at old times. Having her blue hoodie over her head, you would almost think she was Jack, but when you saw her jet black hair and her kind sapphire eyes, you knew you were face to face with the compassionate and playful water spirit herself. Casey was someone I would've loved to known back when my brother met her. He first introduced me to her no more than a few weeks ago after the defeat of Pitch and before the proposal of Mom and Sandy's wedding.

"Zack, Lindsey," I heard Mother say as she lifted her elegant head with a smile. Hiding a tear as she wiped a tired wisp of hair out her face, her other hand lowered to her side as she stood up to meet us.

Casey smiled up at us, too, as she said, "What took you two so long? We started to wonder whether you two were going to make it."

"Zack, honey, we need to talk," Mom said with a serious yet soft smile.

"About what? There's nothing to talk about, I'm fine," my brother said a little too quickly.

"Zack, something is bothering you about the baby, I know. Please, just tell me what it is and we'll work this out together."

"That's why you asked me here," my brother said, dawning on the situation in front of him. Turning to me, he said, "That's why you tracked me down, to bring me here."

"No, Zack. We did need to see you, but you were distant. You kept yourself from us, and you're hiding your feelings about our new little brother or sister from us right now, aren't you?" I asked him, coming out with the truth.

"What is it exactly that you want me to say, that I'm scared? I told you I don't want to talk about this. I'm sorry, Mom, I can't say. I can't," he said, turning to get Mom a teary almost desperate look before he took off into the air at top speed.

"Zack, wait!" Mom called out to him, flying up after him. Flying mid-flutter, Mom watched as he zoomed out from sight as she bent over with fatigue.

"Mom," I said, touching her arm, "you'll never catch him in your condition. Let me go after him. I'll find him, even if I have to drag him all the way home."

With a chuckle, Casey said, "In that case, you better let me come along. I just might know a few tricks that might slow him down to do just that."

So, that was how I ended up streaming after my brother over the northern Atlantic Sea. Casey was keeping up with us from a different aquatic level. While my brother was faster than both of us put together, Casey proved to be in her element as she swam just ahead of me as we both managed to keep pace with my brother.

Looking over his shoulder at me, his face showed his desperation and sadness as one of his tears was wiped clear of his face as he speeded even more further away.

Casey, summoning her element at work, threw up water jets up like columns in a cathedral hall, but my brother only swerved them past them all without any problem. We quickly noticed though that a wall of them slowed him down due to finding a way through it.

"One more wall and I should be able to bring him down, but you're going to have to distract him," Casey called out to me as she dove back under to send out another sturdy yet powerful wall jet wall ahead of him.

I hated to do this, because I knew that he needed his board to fly, but willing my tired wings to flap even harder, I threw myself forward to grab my brother's board right as he cleared the wall.

As his fingers almost had ahold of the board, I whispered, "I'm sorry," as I pushed him away to pull the board higher into the air as he fell towards the water.

Panicking, my brother gazed up at me as his fiery blonde hair flared up even higher as he fiercely threw out a hand to summon his board back to him.

Immediately, I felt it start to fight me as it pulled me in his direction, and my wing strength paid it no resistance. He almost had it back when a huge jet spray of water hit straight in the face.

Sputtering, he fell out of the sky and into the sea. Surfacing, he paddled madly as he shivered and his firelight immediately went out. With his hair drenching wet, his sodden and burnt brown hair fell flat against his face as he turned a resigned face up to face us.

"You think that no one understands what you're going through. Think again, I do," Casey said, looking him straight in the eye.

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**Here's Chapter 3. This chapter took a lot of thinking, so please enjoy. :)**


	4. Chapter 4 - Consuling Words

Dusty's Origin: Part Four

* * *

When we got Solar to shore, he all but sighed in defeat. He told us he would answer any of our questions as long as we were alone when he did. However, I insisted that our Mother be present, for I believed she had the right to know. I only smiled as Solar nodded his agreement.

Thinking on a quiet spot to talk, we finally decided the closest place was none other than Burgess Lake.

* * *

"More water," Solar sighed as me and Mother sat him gently down next to the shore.

Casey giggled, wading into the shores. Waving her staff to cast some lazy waves, she said, "It's only a precaution, Solar."

"A precaution, of what … my powers?" Solar asked, tilting up his head with a frown. "I don't you think you need to worry about it, alright?"

Casey didn't say anything as she sat her staff down by her side.

Placing a hand on his shoulder, our Mom made him look at her as she said, "Casey is only trying to help, Zack. She feels that she can relate to your problems with the baby."

"I'm not mad or sad about having a new addition to our family. In fact, I'm happy for you, Mom, don't get me wrong on that. It's just …" my brother started to say before Casey leaned in to face him.

"You're scared," she said simply, watching as my brother's moist brown eyes gazed up in submission.

Solar just nodded at me as our Mother took him in her arms.

"Believe me, I can relate to how you feel. I almost felt the same as you when my little brother, Matthew, was born. It was before our father up and left us. I was only four years old when we found out that my Mother was expecting again with Matthew. At that time, all that people seemed to talk about was the upcoming birth, and as it continued, I felt almost as if I had been abandoned by my family."

Looking up, I saw that Sandy was nonetheless here as well as he placed a comforting hand on Casey's shoulder as she continued.

"I was so upset, that I almost wished that the baby wouldn't have been born, but when I first gazed into those amethyst eyes of his, I didn't feel like despising him anymore. In fact, I should have never had that thought in my head. From that day on, I even vowed that I would always be there to watch over and protect him. I gave up my life for his, and that's one of the things that made me Casey Aqua in the first place, because of how much I loved Matthew."

Looking up into Solar's eyes, she said, "I have no doubt that you'll find that I'm right, you won't be so afraid after the baby is born. For the first moment your eyes meet his or hers, you won't help but love them."

"I have no doubt in that," my brother said with a smile. "It's just … will the baby like me?"

"Is that what's got you so upset?" Mom asked him with a relieved smile with a slight shake of her head.

"Most of it, I guess," my brother said as our Mother hugged him tighter.

"Oh, Zack, I wish you would have told me sooner. I have no doubt that your new little sister will love you just as much as I and Lindsey love you."

"Little sister?" My brother asked with a small grin.

"Yep, just call it a feeling," our Mother said with an undeniable grin.

"When did you find out?" I asked excitedly, fluttering my wings with a laugh.

"About a few days ago to be honest. You know Tige?"

"Sure, she is one of your most adventurous sprites," I replied knowingly. Tige was a smaller sprite than our Mother's lead sprite and was the colors of orange and black.

A few small whistles sang from behind my Mother's hair as five little sprites flew out into the open, in the midst of them being Whisper and little Tige.

Flapping over to my brother's shoulder, Tige hovered in front of my brother's brown hair to lift a hair and flash a smile. My brother smiled in return.

"Skylight," Casey said, holding her hands out in front of her to bring the happy little blue sprite to her cheek.

_Hee-he-he-he_, a little voice giggled by my ear as it was joined by another. Turning my head, I saw two smiling faces as two sprites each sat astride on my shoulders in turn. Giggling, Lavender, who was a little violet and emerald sprite, smiled at her sister, Rosa, who was a little pink blue-adorned little sprite, as she scattered some stray petals into the air.

"Tige, here, is quite the little nurse," our Mother said proudly as Whisper came out to smile at her charge.

Chirping happily, Tige sat perched on my brother's hand as his hair stared to flare up gently again.

A splash of water sent Tige flying, however, as my brother turned his sodden head towards the likely suspect, who just grinned in response.

"Hey, I said it was a precaution. You can't say I didn't warn you," Casey said with a smile.

* * *

**Well, short it may be, but here's chapter four of dusty's origin. At the end of this little chapter, you meet a few more of Song's little helpers. Enjoy. :)**

**The part about Casey's past comes completely from writergirl142, so all credit for that goes to her. Casey knew Solar because she has met him once before, and in this chapter, she serves as a comforting friend and a relation to Solar's concerns. In other words, according to writergirl142, Casey almost practically felt the same way when her little brother was born. If you want to know more about Casey, look up "RotG: The Water Guardian Debuts" or "RotG: Casey and Matthew" and you'll see you're in for a treat. :)**


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